Colorado at Detroit (2/15/09)

For this afternoon’s game The Avalanche came to Detroit to face the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. The Avs were the worst team in the West and Detroit was coming off a loss to Columbus. Raycroft was the goalie for Colorado and Osgood was in for the Wings for the third straight game.

It only took 16 seconds for Colorado to score. Osgood made an initial save and tried to shove it to Rafalski. He wasn’t able to handle the puck because he was moving too quickly and went right by it. McCormick took the puck and passed it to Laperriere in front of the net. He wasted no time shooting it in.

Colorado started the second period like they started the first. The only difference was that it took them 23 seconds to score in the second instead of 16. McCormick pinched on Samuelsson and the puck went to Salei. He ripped one with Laperriere screening in front. Osgood couldn’t see it very well and it found the back of the net.

Colorado knocked the net off on purpose and were called for delay of game. Then they hooked Datsyuk so there was a delayed call coming. Lidstrom ripped it from the point and Cleary tipped it in just below the crossbar height. That negated the first penalty but not the delayed one. Colorado argued the call a little too vehemently and were called for unsportsmanlike conduct. That gave Detroit a 5 on 3 for a full two minutes.

Just a few seconds into the 5 on 3 Lidstrom passed to Datsyuk and then got it back from him. He one-timed it and Cleary once again tipped it into the net to tie it up. Before the second penalty was up Colorado took another one so again the Wings had a 5 on 3. Colorado was able to kill off the rest of the penalty time.

A few minutes after the penalties expired Hossa released a bomb from the top of the circle that beat Raycroft over the glove to take the lead for the Wings. That was the third goal for the Wings in 4 minutes and 37 seconds.

In the third period Colorado scored in a minute and one second. Smyth made the play from behind the net to Hejduk. He passed it to Wolski at the point. Wolski ripped the shot and Svatos redirected it into the net to tie the game at three.

A few minutes later Detroit scored the go ahead goal. Rafalski shot/passed the puck from the point to Hossa near the net. Hossa redirected it off the shaft of his stick into the net.

A few minutes later Colorado scored a sloppy goal. They shot the puck and it looked like Osgood had it but it went off his glove and dropped in behind him. He lost track of where it was and Guite knocked it into the net. That tied the score at four each.

Nearing the halfway point of the period Kronwall had the puck at Colorado’s blue line. He created some space for himself and shot the puck. Raycroft made the save but the rebound came to Hudler. He one-timed a wrister into the net to retake the lead for the Wings.

A few minutes later Detroit gave up the fifth goal to Colorado. Osgood directed a rebound to the face-off circle but Smyth was there and took the puck. He passed it to Hejduk in the middle who redirected it towards the net. By that time Osgood was out of position to stop it and it trickled over the line.

As time wound down in the third period neither team was able to break the tie so the game headed to overtime. Likewise there were no goals in the overtime and the game went to a shootout.

Datsyuk was the first shooter. He went backhand to forehand and took the shot. Raycroft stopped it. Wolski went first for the Avs. He went forehand to back hand and scored on Osgood. Zetterberg came up next, delayed a bit with the shot and backhanded it into the net. Next was Svatos. He tried a wrister and Osgood stopped him. Hudler came up for the Wings. He made a great move but Raycroft still stopped him. Hejduk went next for the win but Osgood stopped him with the left pad. Then it was Hossa for the Wings and he sent it wide. It was then Smyth’s turn to try for the win. He missed high over the net. Cleary was up next with is first shootout attempt. He tried the five hole but Raycroft shut it down. Leopold went next for the Avs. It was also his first shootout attempt. He shot a wrister that beat Osgood for the win.

The Red Wings looked pretty sloppy defensively in this game. Most of the time they played well but they just had too many breakdowns. Every time they got a break, they gave one back to Colorado. This game should have been no contest but the Avs played their best and as good as Detroit looked at times, it wasn’t their best.

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on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Games.
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